Fourth of July Summer Cake

Blueberry Ginger Fourth of July Cake

I threw together a little cake to celebrate the Fourth of July. I needed an excuse to try a new (to me, at least) technique to color wafer paper and I am quite pleased with the results. I wanted intense colors so I applied undiluted candy colors with a paint brush (for food only, of course) to the wafer paper. The paper curled slightly at the edges while drying so I placed the papers under a piece of foam to lightly hold them flat for the first 24 hours. The colors never completely dried but after a few days were just slightly oily feeling with limited color transfer. The colors were very intense and I am pleased with the results. The paper remained pliable until I sandwiched wires between two petals/stars and moistened to stick together, trapping the wire between the pieces. I used 22 gauge wire wrapped in white floral tape and a few of Wilton's premade stamens for the center of the flower. 

Blueberry Ginger Fourth of July Cake

I used a boxed gluten-free cake mix and doctored it up with an extra egg, milk instead of water, and butter in lieu of oil. I added a teaspoon or so of ground ginger, a tablespoon of grated fresh ginger and a half cup of finely chopped candied ginger into the mix. I folded in a cup of fresh blueberries right before dividing equally between three 6 inch cake pans and baked until a knife came out clean. 

Blueberry Ginger Fourth of July Cake

I brightened up some cream cheese frosting with a little lemon extract, lemon juice, and fresh grated lemon rind. This was spread between each layer and around the outside. After frosting I placed three big straws to support the height of the layers and added two straws in a shorter length for the flower stem wire and for the star wire bundles. The straws were purchased from Amazon and are meant for thick drinks so are much wider then typical straws. 

A quick and easy way to help celebrate the Fourth!